Why is it called Loneliest Road in America?

October 16, 2024

Answer: Because it is…….. Two towns and a small city lie between the Nevada/Utah border and Fallon, NV to the west, a distance of 321 miles!

Ok, I almost forgot to finish our trip on this blog. Ya, I know. You’ve all been sitting patiently by your tablets, computers and phones awaiting the last blog post of this trip. So who am I to disappoint?

We cut our trip short by not going to Zion National Park. We met some folks who just came from there and said they couldn’t find a place to park at Zion even at 0600 hours! Gads, just what we wanted- a sea of people visiting what should be a serene and peaceful natural setting. So nope we’re not doing that- we deleted Zion. Maybe another time. We cancelled two RV park reservations which meant we left our deposits totallying $130 with them. However the Wonderland RV Park in Torrey was sad to see us go .They gave us a full refund with only a 12 hour cancellation notification. Nice folks they are.

So off we go Sunday morning heading west northwest on UT 24. Within 20 minutes we come to two towns. Bicknell (337 souls) comes first. It’s claim to fame is it’s year ’round movie theater, home to the annual Bicknell Film Festival. Lyman is 5 miles up the road. Formally known as East Loa, this town has 258 souls living in it. Loa, pop. 572, is the metropolis in the valley. Loa was named by a Mormon missionary after his return from Mauna Loa Hawaii. The towns’ water source is two springs. These communities rely heavily on agriculture.

The building on the right is the historic tithing building of Loa

Tithing offices were a vital part of the economic and social life of early LDS communities. They served as a place to collect, store, and distribute tithes, which were often in the form of agricultural products. Tithing offices also served as general stores. 

A few miles west of Loa we reach the junction with State Highway 62. That ends the new-to-us route as from this junction to Scipio is 72 miles of back tracking on US50. We fuel up in Scipio choosing a regular fueling station rather than the truck stop across the highway which saves us 40 cents a gallon on diesel fuel. From Scipio we head south on Interstate 15 and once again connect with US 50.

Greasy Spoon in Delta, UT

Heading west on US 50 brings lots of arid land. Even so there must be lots of private land owners as the highway zigs and zags when one would believe the road would be relatively straight in this flat land. We come to Delta. Well, lookie there! A large regional sports complex crops up just short of town. It has several ball diamonds, We can walk the mutzos on grass and not enter a sports field. It’s quite nice. We find out the Delta is Millard County Seat so also has another sports complex in addition to the fair grounds. 3622 souls live in this city that lies along side the Sevier River and is surrounded by farmland.

We pass the large dry Sevier lake which measures 25 miles by 7 miles. In 2011 local dams began dumping water due to heavy precipitation, the water running into Sevier Lake. Water level rose to 3′ and did not freeze in winter due to its salt content being 2.5 times higher than the ocean.The last time this happened was in 1984.We leave the flat desert and start the first of many climbs. We aren’t too far from the border and what one usually finds at a Nevada border crossing.

These Signs Are About 100′ Apart And Face Opposite Directions Naturally!

The Border Inn Casino encompasses a casino and bar, a motel, a restaurant, a gas station and an RV park. Did you know that Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state at 150 mostly running north and south as part of the Great Basin complex. At least 30 of the mountains in Nevada reach a height of 11,000 feet. That should burst the bubble of those who think of Nevada as a flat desert wasteland.

We pass by Baker NV as its on another highway. US 50 in these parts is also labeled Nevada 6. We pass the turnoff to Great Basin National Park and its campgrounds, the scenic drive up Wheeler Peak (elevation 13,065) and its jewel Lehman Caves.

Historic District, Ely

We are spending the next two nights in Ely, the largest city and the seat of White Pine County, as the tailpipe that I put a temporary fix is in need of a better fix as it now drags on the ground as we pulled into camp. Ely (3957 souls) has a couple of hardware stores that will be open tomorrow (Monday) so parts to rehang the tailpipe more substantially are available.

We toured Ely a little. The town is home to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum https://nnry.com, not only a museum but also offers train rides on vintage trains. Originally Ely was a stage coach station then a mining boom in copper came along at which time Ely was connected to Eureka and Austin by rail. The railroad exists today in Ely as a heritage railroad. Gold extracted from copper mine tailings kept the town alive in the 1980’s and 90’s. The city is at the crossroads of two major highways, US 50 that runs east and west and US 93 which runs north and south. At 6300′ elevation Ely’s climate is one of the coldest places in the US. It has a growing season of only 79 days.

Eureka Nevada

Opera House (on right) and hotel in Eureka

On Tuesday with the tailpipe more firmly secured we are off. We’ve decided to try for home, a 330 something mile drive mostly on a two lane road that climbs over several mountain ranges. Not sure if we can make it but we’ll give ‘er a go. The first town we come to is Eureka was first settled in 1864 and with 440 souls making it the second largest community in Eureka County. The town boasts Raines Market and Wildlife Museum, the Jackson House Hotel and the Eureka Sentinel Museum.

US 50 Snaking Down the Hill into Austin- Left Center

St. Augustine’s Catholic Church circa 1866, Austin NV

We are getting deep into the loneliest road portion of the Lincoln Highway, US50. Eureka is 77 miles from Ely and Austin is 69 miles from Eureka. From Eureka its 122 miles to Fallon. US 50 comes down to Austin from Austin Summit (7484 elevation) as a steep, narrow, windy road- not a good place to lose your brakes. Austin is the previous seat of Lander county, supporting 167 souls. Silver was discovered there in the early 1860’s when a pony express horse kicked over a rock which had silver under it. Austin grew to 10,000 souls during the boom which lasted until 1887. Gold and silver as still mined at low levels of production. High quality turquoise is still mined in the area.

Stokes Castle was built in the 1890’s and only lived in one month by the Stokes famliy before is was sold. The town of Austin appears to be depressed with several vacant storefronts.

About 50 miles west of Austin in Cold Springs Station Resort. The place has a restaurant that’s open seasonally. Nine times a year it has a fish fry. The resort also has a highly regarded rv park. The only problem I see with the place is signage. Ya can see the joint from a distance but the driveways sneak up on ya till it’s too late to turn into them.

Cold Springs Pony Express Station Ruins

The Lincoln Highway, aka US 50, follows the old Pony Express Route so there are many pony express station ruins along the route- even a transcontinental telegraph ruin! Some of their locations are well marked, others not so much. If you see a chain link fence with no obvious reason for a fence to be there it’s probably a pony express ruin. The Pony Express covered 1800 miles from St. Joseph MO to Sacramento CA, mail being delivered in 10 days. The Pony Express operated for 1.5 years from 1860 to 1861 when it was replaced by the transcontinental telegraph.

We continued west on US 50 reaching Sand Springs and what appears to be salt flats running parallel to Sand Mountain, a giant dune fabricated by prevailing southwest winds. From there we cruise into Fallon (9300 souls), the seat of Churchill County. This is the largest town we’ve come to since entering Nevada. Fallon is home to Navy Fighter Weapons School, more popularly known as Top Gun. The Lincoln Highway, US 50portion of the Loneliest Road in America ends here. It encompasses 2 small towns and a small city in a 351 mile stretch of highway.

US 50 takes a dog leg left in Fallon and heads to our state capitol in Carson City so we’ll continue on US 93 to Fernley (22,890 souls) where we’ll jump on Interstate 80 for the last 71 miles home. Fernley is primarily a farming and ranching community yet has had a marked increase of manufacturing, high tech and warehousing companies moving in the nearby area.

We know we are getting close to home when we reach a narrow canyon that the Truckee River shares with I-80 and the small communities of Patrick and Lockwood as well as the nearby Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, home of Tesla lithium battery factory amongst others. We pop out of the canyon into the flats of first Sparks, then Reno. These two towns have grown together and have a combined population of around 500,000 souls. We live in Northwest Reno so we still have a 12 mile ride until we reach home. And then- Ahhhhh, home.

We basically strip the RV of most clothing, toiletries, and all food as it will be subject to freezing weather. All tools are once again hauled into the garage. The fresh water system is winterized, mouse traps are set, bug spray is applied around the windows and door to eliminate those pesty stink bugs. Everything done we take the Allegro Red to her resting place for the winter.

Like all trips things happen and this one was no exception. Some were preventable, some were not. We’ll work in the preventable ones so that they won’t reoccur. Even with those aw shucks moments we did have a wonderful trip. We will not give up on visiting Zion NP in the future as it’s one of our favorites places to visit. So with that said I wish you all Godspeed, Via con Dios and Safe Travels my friends!

Aw, shucks Mom and Dad, just when Buster and I were having so much fun traveling we are home!